Tonight, the Associated Press treated a story a story about a suit to overturn tiny-population Alaska’s ban on same-sex “marriage” as national news — even giving it a “Big Story” promotion. Meanwhile, it kept Planned Parenthood’s decision to abandon its legal effort to obtain state funding in more-populated Kansas out of its national site, thus treating it as a local story.

Same-sex “marriage” and abortion are about equal in the pantheon of establishment press sacred cows, and each issue has been the subject of disputes in several states. So the only explanation for the disparate treatment seems to be that the Alaska story’s national treatment occurred because it seems to advance one pet cause, while the Kansas story stayed local because it is a significant defeat for the other. In the Kansas story, Roxana Hegeman, as seen in the final excerpted paragraph following the jump, predictably misled readers about the nature of Planned Parenthood’s services (HT Life News):

The topic: “Unilateral Do-Not-Attempt Resuscitation Orders In A Large Academic Hospital.” These are situations where “clinicians withhold advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest despite objections of patients or their surrogates.” The presenters indicate that “The ethics committee at Massachusetts General Hospital has had a unilateral DNR policy since 2006.” Patients allowed to die against their or their surrogates’ will is news, right? Let’s see if anyone in the press cares. (So far: No.) A full description of the presentation, relevant background, and Smith’s reaction follow the jump.

AP’s tallest tale is in ascribing the four annual deficits of over $1 trillion incurred from fiscal 2009 through 2012 entirely to the “deep recession” and the need to “stabilize the financial system,” when the truth is that huge increases in government spending not related to those matters are primarily what shot the annual deficits upward — and are still keeping them at historical highs. Excerpts follow the jump (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

In what many may see as a “pigs fly” moment, actor Richard Dreyfuss, long known for his involvement in leftist causes up to and including efforts to impeach George W. Bush, appeared on Mike Huckabee’s weekend Fox News program to promote the importance of U.S. citizens knowing “our constitution or our history.” He went further, noting that “the constitution is the most single greatest step toward humans improving civilization since the beginning of man’s sojourn on earth.” Those aren’t exactly the typical messages we see delivered by the Hollywood or media elites these days. Instead, those groups seem to be doing all they can to ignore very significant encroachments on our fundamental freedoms originating in Washington.

Given the history seen at Dreyfuss’s NewsBusters tag, it would be wise to remain in “trust but verify” mode regarding his positions and activities. With that caveat, the goal of his Dreyfuss Initiative is to ensure that “Civics will be taught in America’s classrooms, starting in the elementary levels up through grade 12.”

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